Better late than never, the King is back to file a report about the 2005 World Poker Championships. The King has been checking out the new Wynn casino in Vegas for the past week+, so apologies on this late report.

Tuan Le; pure luck or pure skill? Many people would say, pure luck after his performance at the 2005 WPT Championships. The number of suckouts that went Tuan's way were almost too numerous to count. Paul Maxfield and Tuan Le were the last two combatants, and battled for almost an hour and a half in heads up action before Tuan finally won with K/J against K/5. Tuan took a near 3 million dollar payday. This event was also the last time you'll see Shana Hiatt hosting a WPT event on TV.

The King was betting on Michael Mizrachi to take the event; he was absolutely dominating until he decided to go over the top with pocket 6's and got destroyed by a pair of pocket queens. The Grinder went from chip leader to gone in just about 10 minutes. Ouch .. the Grinder went over the top of two other raisers with his sixes and was rocked. The King expects the Grinder will rebound and continue to pursue the 2005 Player of the Year crown.

Other strong performances included: Phil Ivey and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson. Phil Ivey is a big cash game player, but if he decides to concentrate on tournament play, he could easily win the World Series of Poker which is quickly approaching.